BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
The need to ensure higher quality customer interactions drives the development of efficient contact center applications in Latin America. An investment-friendly atmosphere and the rapid development of new markets in the Andean region further contribute to the growth in the overall Latin American contact center application market.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.contactcenter.frost.com), Overview on the Latin American Contact Center Applications Markets, finds that the market earned revenues of over $407.1 million in 2011 and estimates this to reach $757.9 million in 2018 at a compound annual growth rate of 9.3 percent. The Latin American contact center applications market in the Andean and Southern Cone regions is expected to grow at 10.3 percent and 9.8 percent respectively till 2018. Brazil will be the regional revenue leader with a 51.6 percent share of the market.

"Market expansion in Latin America will lead to substantial contact center application development to ensure efficient customer interaction," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Martin Ramirez. "Proactive tools will also be in high demand as contact centers will be focusing on business intelligence in order to implement a personalized approach to customer relationships."
Agent performance optimization (APO) will be the most sought-after application by companies. Interactive voice response (IVR) tools are popular in industries such as banking and telecommunications, which are looking to simplify certain processes. End users have also become accustomed to and prefer IVR.

Inbound contact routing (ICR) system income is expected to reach $500.2 million in 2018. Since ICR is the primary contact center tool needed to attend to end users, it will remain in demand as new companies enter the region and expansion plans continue.

However, Brazil's dominance makes the rest of the region overly dependent on its economic future, putting the market's long-term growth in jeopardy. Economic insecurity in key countries such as Argentina and Colombia could restrain expansion.

The low penetration of social media technologies is mainly due to the fact that companies have no clear understanding of its real value for the business. Indeed, despite the awareness of the benefits of social media, pricing concerns force companies to evaluate the return on invest of these solutions.

"However, demand for new and effective solutions may lead to increased interaction through social media," concluded Ramirez. "As the large-center segment reaches maturity, vendors must come up with new strategies to penetrate the small and medium business market and stay competitive."
If you are interested in more information on this research, please send an email to Francesca Valente, Corporate Communications, at francesca.valente@frost.com, with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company email address, company website, city, state and country.

Overview on the Latin American Contact Center Applications Markets is part of the Contact Centers & CRM Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: EMEA Contact Center Systems Markets, CRM BPO and Contact Center Outsourcing Services Markets in Brazil, and 2012 Customer Contact Experience Benchmarks - Multi-Channel and Cross-Industry. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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